Well finally my uncles 7.3 was taken to the junkyard . Only 6 months after my fathers 7.3 died. The worst part was my uncles truck was towed away by a dodge! My fathers truck died from rust and blown motor. Uncles truck died from rust also. We where able to save motor though!

Both where 1990 f-250 7.3l 4x4 extended cabs 8ft bed etc. Always is sad to see one of these old brutes go the way of to dodo. I will be buying my IDI very soon though!

 

when you get yours(i see your up here in rusty New England) might i suggest:
POR15, Inc. - Stop Rust Permanently - Repair Gas & Fuel Tanks

it's actually not as expensive as it seems.
i just did my whole undercarriage with por-15 and it only took 2 quarts! you don't need much of the cleaner & prep either,and that included the entire under body of my dump body frame,all C-channel cross members and the large hoist.
i shot everything from front to rear under there all the way up to the rad support and plow push plates.she looks pretty dang sharp.
it cost me more to paint my chipper than it did the entire under body of the truck.
the po had done some just before i bought my truck (not all that hot of a job[but not horrible]but i fixed that) and it really held up well on the salt roads,while the other cheap/normal paint i sprayed on there last year,pretty much just disappeared.
if you want to keep an old truck around for years up in rust county,just do it.
this fall,i'll be spraying it again with por-15's self etching primer followed by the new flexcoat (black) top coat,which is supposed to be really good marine grade salt resistant paint.-that's what i just shot my chipper with.then i figure she'll really be protected well from the road salt.
look into it anyway.it'll really save your future truck from a early scrap yard grave.then you can ware the thing out,rather than it just rot away.

 

here we go.i just went to grab a few pics for ya.
see how this stuff is more of a thick armor than paint.
sorry its a little dirty now.it's been a day or two.
funny how light dirt looks like surface rust in pics.i assure its not! lol.
i should have just snapped some pics when it was clean the other day to show off. ah well.id get out the hose and accomplish the same thing lol,but im being to lazy for that haha.
anyway.as you can see,it's some mean stuff.
i used a spray gun,and it shot great.
point being;
don't let your rig end up like your dads!








anything that looks like imperfection there now,is just light dirt and would rinse right away.
-i take that back.i see a couple.the bolts that hold my tool boxes.i took them right off of course before i sprayed,so the those bolts/washers are in fact rusty.

 

Looks good but does it hold up over longer periods of time? I've heard of Por15 before but no personal experience.

 

Mines gonna look similar, but heavily covered in Line-X

 

iv never seen anything take the salt myself,like the por-15 did this winter.that's why i went right through and made sure the whole thing was coated.
of course just a year,and one Maine winter of plowing doesn't count to a whole lot.still i figure that was like 10 years worth of a truck sitting out in Cali,and my truck didn't get any worse.
here's a good one after 3 yrs:
Rusted Oil Pan Still OK 3 Years After POR 15 Coating - Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com

 

I am very interested!! Can you spray it? Did a whole undercoating last summer and its all already flaked off.

 

I've had good results with the undercoating I use, but the idea of using a solid paint for things like the rad support (more exposed to engine fluids and wash from the road) is appealing to me. Although last time I used undercoating to patch over the areas that were worn through behind the front tires, I did cheat a little and mixed some used engine oil in with it....

I also used gear oil inside all the body locations of the cab last summer and its still leaching out to this day in all the places that the truck is supposed to be rusting. Stunk like heck for a few weeks but it seems to work as a "clotting" agent for those areas where no coating can ever reach.

 

POR is good stuff, ive used it before and i love it. it will last along time if you prep the surface right and give it something to stick to. its pretty hard stuff too, dosent chip and its flexable. ill do the 88 with it this summer, i just have to scrape all that old undercoat off you can spray it, but youll have to thin it, and id use a cheap throw away spray gun, once this stuff sets up its there, i wouldent use it in a good gun

 

I'm planning on por-15 both of my trucks. They have rusted enough. If i ever get a new truck i'll strip the frame and coat it too, and the underside of the cab, fenders, bed. Thing will last forever.